Stopper for bottles or the like.



No. 723,370. PATENTBD MAR.24,1903. D. 0. DEMAREST.

STOPPER FOR BOTTLES OR-THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 6, 1902, v

no MODEL.

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- III wessas A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DEWITT o. DEMAREST, or PASSAIO, NEW JERSEY.

STOPPER FOR BOTTLES OR THE LIKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 723,370, dated March24, 1903.- Application filed August (i, 1902. Serial No. 118,672. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DEWITT C. DEMAREST, acitizen of the United States,residing at Passaic, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stoppers forBottles or the Like, of which the following is a specification.

I have produced a stopper of hard rubber of tubular or shell formdesigned for use with bottles and with the chambered barrel of afountain-pen; and the object of my improjvement is to provide aninelastic tubethat will in section the neck portion of a bottle and atubular rubber stopper embodying my improvement. Fig. 1 shows thetubular stopper with a tapering end without shoulder.

Fig. 2 is a like View of a jar with a cover pro Vided with my tubularrubber or ring stopper. Fig. 2 is a detail of the shoulderedring-stopper shown in Fig. 2. Figs. 3, 4., and 5 show in sectiondifferent forms of my tubular or shell rubber stopper with end plugs.

Fig. 6 shows my tubular or ring rubber stopper as applied to the barrelof a fountain-pen in place of the usual screw-plug. Fig. 7shows mytubular or shell rubber stopper with a tapering seating end.

.I produce the stopper in the form of 'a tube or shell of hard rubber 1,open at both ends, and in this form it is produced in a tubingmachine.The tube of proper length and diameter has itsstoppereforming end 2 madetapering, the base of the cone preferably terminating in an annularshoulder 3. This rubber tube or shell while having comparatively thinwalls is strong enough to resist any external crushing force necessaryto seat it within and upon the neck-wall. I may, however, fill or closethe tubular sealing end of the stopper with a plug of cork 4 or othersuitable material secured by cement, as in Fig. 4. At its outer end thetube is provided with a head-plug 5, which may or may not have a head,as in Figs. 3 and 4. This headplug may be of cork, wood, glass, rubber,paper, or of earthenware and is cemented as a fixed part of the hardrubber tubular stopper. As in Fig. 3, this head-plug may be seated onoutward-flaring walls of the tube, or, as in Fig. 5, the head-plug maybe seated by a shoulder on the end of the tube, or, as in Fig. 4:, thetwo end plugs may abut Within the tube.

While I prefer forming the tapering end with a shoulder 3, the taperingsealing end 2 may be formed without the shoulder, as in Figs; 1, '1",and '7.

The inner walls of the bottle-neck may be formed with a tapering seat 6,corresponding with the tapering end 2 of the tubular stopper, and on thetapering-neck seating-walls the tubular end of the stopper makes theperfoot seal without-a shoulder, as in Fig. 1. Preferably, however, Iform the inner walls of the neck with a shoulder 7, corresponding withthe, shoulder 3 of the tubular rubber stopper, and when so formed theneck-walls are parallelat their junction with the shoulder, andthetapering walls of the tubular stopper will' in such case be seated onthe neck-shoulder, as in Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and form the seal. Ineither case the seal is made'by the tapering end of the rubber shellholding it tightly upon the neck wall orshoulder of the closure. It isthe tapering end of the tube which wedges on the wall-shoulder thatmakes the sealing-joint air-tight. For this purpose the tapering end ofthe rubber tube is turned bya tool or smoothed by sandpaper to give it agood grip and wedge action on the walls of the closure and at the sametime prevent sticking and allow it to be readsuitable insulator fixed onthe inner end of The walls of the rubber tube are reasonably thick toallow it to be formed with the shouldered tapering end that will standthe required sealing pressure.

In seating the stopper it is not intended that the shoulder of therubber tube should abut with the shoulder of the closure-wall, but thatthe seating-joint and the sealing are formed by the tapering end of thestopper upon the closure-wall shoulder, so that the seal is practicallyformed by an edge contact made by tapering and parallel walls, and whilethis is the preferred construction, because it gives an effective quicksealing and easy loosening of the stopper, yet a rubber tube having oneend formed tapering,its other end provided with a head-plug to form astopper, is etfective as such without a shoulder.

The head-plug extends a sufficient distance within the tube to give it afirm hold therein and being cemented renders it practically a solid partof the tubular stopper.

Looking at Fig. 6 is seen an illustration of my tubular rubber stopperas it is used for closing the open end of the barrel of a fountain-pen,in which 9 is the pen, 10 the penholding plug, and 11 the tubularplug-section, which in fountain-pens has an external screwthread whichengages a screw on the inner walls of the barrel to close and seal thefountain or chamber thereof as a stopper and which serves as a stopperand is removed to supply the chamber with ink and through which the inkis fed to the pen. To the inner end of this tubular plug-stopper and tothe inner walls of the barrel I apply my stopper improvement to take theplace of the sealing screw-stopper. The inner end of this tubular plugis made tapering, with a shoulder 3 at the base of the cone, and theinner wall of the barrel is formed with a shoulder 7, like that in theneck of the bottle, and when the tubular plug is inserted in the barrelits conical end wedges on the shoulder thereof and binds it in place,sealing the chamber of the barrel. In this construction there is thecombination of the same stopper-forming elements as is shown in the neckof a bottle or jar to form an air-tightjoint. When the neck orchamberwalls are formed with shoulders, the walls which jointhe shoulderare parallel, and the shoulder is sharply formed by making the walls ofgreater diameter at the open end of the neck or chamber, and it will beunderstood that the shoulder or tapering seat is formed asufficientdistance within the opening to receive that part of the stopper betweenthe shoulder and its outer end to afford protection to the stopperagainst acciwalls, while in Fig. '7 the conical walls are concave.

The production of a tube of hard rubber of indefinite length is cut intoproper lengths, and these are then turned with the tapering end andshoulder to form the stopper.

It is important to note that the walls of the head plug are smooth andits cementing within the tube renders its .interior air-tight, while theplug at the other end of the tube forms a solid support for the thinwalls of the tapered end of the tube, where the tight joint is made.These plugs are especially important in their function of givingsolidity to the inelastic walls of the hard-rubber tube. I make the twoplugs separate to allow the use of different materials for each plug, asstated.

I claim- 1. A stopper formed of an inelastic rubber tube or shell and aplug of. smooth walls cemented in one end, the other end of the tubetapered and adapted to form the sealing-joint with the walls of theclosure.

2. A stopper formed of an inelastic rubber tube or shell and a plug ofsmooth walls cemented in one end and the other end of the tubeterminating in an annular shoulder and a taper joining said shoulder toform the sealing-joint with the walls of the closure.

3. A stopper formed of an inelastic rubber tube or shell one endterminating in an annular shoulder and a taper joining said shoulder toform the sealing-joint with the closurewall, a plug cemented in theother end of the tube and a facing or cover for the inner end of theplug for insulating it from the contents of the bottle.

4. In a bottle-stopper and in combination with a bottle or the likehaving the inner walls of its opening formed with an annular shoulder, astopper of an inelastic tube or shell one end terminating in anannularshoulder and a taper joining said shoulder to form asealing-joint with the closure-shoulder, and a plug cemented in theouter end of said tube.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DEWITT O. DEMAREST.

Witnesses:

DANL. J. DUNPHY, I. L. H. MERIKEL.

